Monrovia – Liberia’s agriculture sector is expected to get a big boost following the launch of Agri Power Africa-Liberia (APAL) in Gbarnga, Bong County.
Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
APAL is a non- governmental organization designed to galvanize African men and women to use agriculture to create jobs, wealth and alleviate poverty.
Serving as chief launcher at the ceremony on Monday, September 17, Liberia’s Vice President, Jewel Howard Taylor thanked APAL for choosing Liberia as the next destination after Nigeria and pledged the government’s support to the project.
“All of us must work together. I will be happy to have another day of meeting to put all of their plans and their programs together. You have my fullest support and I will do what I can to add my voice where it is needed to make this a reality. Thank you so much for beginning,” she averred.
Speaking further, VP Taylor denounced Liberia’s reliance on the importation of major commodities and noted that the coming of Agri Power might be that opportunity needed to change the story around.
she also called on the farmers of Bong County and Liberia at large to take advantage of the opportunity to transform their lives.
“We have a lot in our country. We need to stop looking outside. Only Liberians can build Liberia. We have to go beyond the normal things we have been doing in or country and look at the benefit. We are such a blessed nation you will ever know, but we have become the country of beggars. It is an opportunity for you. I pray that God will open our hearts and open our hands that we can begin to work and feed ourselves,” she intoned.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Chief Executive Officer of Agri Power Africa, Dr. Aroms Emmanuel Aigbehi indicated that the entity is all about empowering smallholder farmers to become big farm holders.
“The concept of Agri Power which have been previously used and is expanded here in Liberia is to empower people who like to go beyond the smallholders’ level to become big holders. We believe in Agriculture. For Africa to be able to develop, we need to grow farmers from smallholders to big holders. What we have in place is the ability to help them maximize their current production. With new technology, they can maximize their production seven to ten times than what they are doing now,” Dr. Aigbehi assured.
To achieve that, he outlined that they will introduce the concentrated Agriculture system where production is focused on a small piece of land but with maximum yield.
He also mentioned that the project will be centered on there pillars including training and building the capacity of farmers and agriculture students, mechanize the existing land by providing farmers with tools and implements that will boost production, and commercializing the agriculture products by working with other producers to transport produce as well as preserve the items for both the local and external markets.
In addition, he said APAL will establish large anchor farms in the targeted communities that will assist small farms grow into larger, mechanized and efficient operations, as well as facilitate loans to APAL’s farmers through agriculture cooperative banks.
He also clarified that APAL is not a charity organization, rather, it is a private partnership comprising of Africans that intends to collaborate with the Government of Liberia, the private sector, community colleges, technical agriculture schools and other partners in Africa, Europe, Asia and America to attract funding, technical expertise, equipment, inputs and other resources to run the project successfully.
Speaking earlier, APAL’s Country Director, Watchen Harris Bruce named the seven counties that have been targeted for the project as Bomi, Bong, Grand Bassa, Lofa, Margibi, Montserrado and Nimba Counties.
Mrs. Bruce, a Liberian with vast experience in the agriculture sector, indicated that the project will be piloted in Fuamah District in Bong County and will later be expanded to other parts of the targeted counties.
Under the project, she noted that famers will be trained and empowered to increase yields from existing farmland, and APAL will establish warehouses to add value to food produced for local, national and international export markets.
She stressed that the goal is to empower the smallholder farmers to go beyond subsistence farming.
She added that APAL will provide agriculture inputs, equipment and implements and train lots of young people from agriculture colleges and technical school including the Tumutu Agriculture Vocational Institute in Bong County to be agriculture extension workers with the farmers.
“We will build their capacity first by providing mechanized agriculture- giving them equipment and we will also teach them how to run their farm as a business, not subsistence farming,” she averred.
The ceremony was graced by top officials including the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Cllr. Syrenus Cephus, Bong County’s Superintendent, Esther Walker and Senator Sando Johnson of Bomi County.